Socket for vacuum tubes



Feb. 1?, W25,

SOCKET FOR VACUUM TUBES Filed Dec. 21,

Fntente Feb. l7, 1925.

t,527,05u: Hos.

STANLEY D. LIVINGSTON.-0F NEW YORK. N. Y.. ASSIGNOR T0 EISEMANN'MAGNFI'O CORPORATION, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SOCKET FOB VACUUM TUBES.

Application filed December 21, 1.922. Serial No. 608.214.

To 11 707mm. 51- mag/ concern:

Be it known that I. STAXLEY D. Lxvncos'ron. a citizen of-the UnitedStates. and a resident of the city of New York. borough 1 of Richmond.county of iliclunoud. and State of Row York. hove invented ccrtuin newand useful. Improvements in Sockets for Vacuum Tubes, of which. thefollowing is a. specification.

My invention relates to sockets for connecting vacuum tubes in radiocircuits, and its object. is to provide a, socket of simple constructionin which positive contact with the terminal pins" of a vacuum tube isinsured at all times.

in vacuum-tube sockets heretofore contrusted. the contacts are in theform of separate, strips of spring metal, each secured at its end to thebuse of the socket by a screw and having; its free or inner endextending in position to be engaged by the terminal pins or a, vacuumiillllfi. in this engagement with the vucuurmtnhe pins. the contact.strips of the socket are bent down. Now. the pins in some tubes arelonger than in others, and the longer pins bend the socket eontucts downfurther. As these socket contacts are thin separate strips. this bendingsoon iinpoirs their resiliency and utter it While they do not. springharsh: to normal position upon removal of the tube. it was foundgforinstsnoe, that sfi'er using :1 vacuum tube with relatively long terminalpins. a tube with shorter pins would fail to engage the contacts of thesocket.

is is the purpose of invention to eliminuts the foregoing difli'culty byproviding a, soelret; in which the contacts urn carried by resilientsupport. or" such roustruction us to insure the correct position of? thecoutncts at old times. in the preferred embodiment of my invention. theresilient support 7 o: the contacts is a. one-piece circular spring oftempered steel honing inwardly projectlllg prongs which carry theinsulated conacts in position to he engaged by the ier- .ul Qil oivacuum tube. The resilient rag-tn oi the spring is such that the re ofhe socketcontacts to normal poor: on femoral of the lamp is all; alltimes m and positive. irrespective of the n or". the terminal pins onthe lump.

dditio'n to a resilient support for the as mentioned. my new socketconuiu improved features of "on tru tion which will become, clear as thespecification proceeds. The accompanying drawings show a form of socketas used, and l shall describe that construction as n profcrrcdembodiment oi my invention. In these drawings,

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of my new socket in full size, with avacuum tuho in position thereon;

Fig. 9, an enlarged top plan View of the socket shown in Fig. 1, thedimensions being approximately double the actual size for the sake ofcleurness;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the socket, showing the some enlargementas Fig". 2;

Fig. at is an enlarged vertical cross-section approximately on line ofFig. l. showing how the terminal pins of :2. Vacuum tulro engage thespring contacts of the socket;

F 5 is ii. fragmentary riew in cross-section approximately on line 5-5of Fig. 2.. showing one of the socket; terminals in nor ms]. position;

Fig. (3 is :1 view similar to Fig. 5, showing how one of the socketcontacts is depressed by u terminal pin of a vacuum tube; and.

7 illustrates a preferred form of spring for mounting the socketcontracts.

The vacuum-tube socketof my invention comprises a. hose indicated as awhole in B, and a tubular shell indicated as uwhole by S. These partsmay he made of any suit able material. but I prefer to construct them 0%sheet metal. such as steel, bl'tlSS.-1llllltllnum, or the like. Theshell S of a size to accommodate snugly the cvliudi'ical lutSt port-ion.i. of a vacuum tube T. As this tutuforins no part of my invention andas such tubes or lamps are well known in the rudio art. I need not gointo the structural details thereof. I need only say that from thebottom of thc lump extend four terminal pins (1. two of which are shownin Fig. -l. As is well understood. these terminal pins lend to thefilament. the plate aud'thc grid of the tube. The huse portion A of thevacuum tube has at lug 1 adapted to enter it huyonet slot 2 in slicll Sfor securing the tube correctly in position on the socket.

The socket hose ll, which is usually made rectangular. is formed with uperipheral lungs 8. having openings or cutaway portions ut the corners.The four sides of the iiungre form n shallow rece s in the base. in

of the circular band ll which in this opposite sides of flange 3 arescrew holes 5, which are used when it is desired to screw the socket inan upright position on a ver tical panel in a radio set. The top or baseB has a pair of holes #3 for receiving screws or other fastening devicesto screw the socket on a table. Thus. the socket is equally well adaptedfor mounting on a table or on a vertical panel lhe top or soclcet oaschas a. central opening 7 of approximately the same diameter as shell S,which is secured to the base in alignment with said opening. For thispurpose the base ll is provided with iuwardly extending lugs: H and thelower edge of shell S is formed with correspondingly arranged lugs t).Rivets it) pass throng ipenings in llll, aligned lugs b and f) andrigidly connect the shell and the base together. I have shown four pairsof lugs S and 5), but the precise number of lug is not material.

At the bottom ot shell b is mounted a. (tin culai -=tce,l spring 11which has four inwardly pro ecting prongs 12. .i prefer to secure thespring 11 in position by placing it between lugs 8 and 9. as illustratedin at. the spring has holes 13 for the rivets 10. Thus it is clear thatthe rivets l0 perform the double function of securing shell E5 to basell and at the same time fastening the swing 11 in the socket. Of course,in the broader aspect of my invention, spring 11 may be held in positionby other means. but

I prefer the arrangement which I have just described on account of itssunplicity. it

\\'lll be seen from lugs. 22 and S that the )rongs 12 of the spring areapproximately midway of the rivets it), so that each prong is inetlectsupported by an arc-shaped spring base extending from one rivet; it) tothe other. This spring base, hich is a curved blade in the particularconstruction illustrated, constitutes a torsional spring of sutlicientstrength and resiliency. Normally the prongs Z extend slightly upwardly,as

shown in Fig. \Vhenthe prt'ings 12 are depressed by the contact pins ol"a lamp, th: tree portions of thespring 11, by which i mean the portionsbetween the faste ing points or rivets 10, are slightly hem or twistedtransversely against the normal set instance constitutes the sprino'.Hence,- i may pro 'ierly call this atorsional spring. It is this strongresilient support or base r'for each prong that; permits depression ofthe prongs to varying degrees and insures the return of the depressedprongs tonorni'al position.

On prongs 12 of the circular are four socket contacts 1 l5, l8 and Thesecontacts may ctm'venicntly he in.

1 the form of copper rivets, which are good con-- rsezceo insulated bywashers 19 and 20, one of which is :tormed with a bushing 21, as shownin Figs. 5 and 6. These washers may be fiber, balielite, or any othergood insulating material. At the bottom of each prong 12 is secured avmetal clip 22,, which is electrically connected to the associated socketcontact but is insulated by washer 20 from the spring 11 and themetallic body of the sockct. The clips are for the purpose of receivingthe ends of conductors. A convenient way of attaching the conductors tothe clips is to provide the latter with a. grooved extension adapted toreceive the stripped end ot. a conductor. By simply bending the sides01f extension 23 over the conductor (see Figs. 3 and l), the latter issecurely connected to the clipa d the associated socket contact.

.t he tour conducwrs 15;, 240', 27 and 2-8 are connected,respectivcly,-to socket contacts 14, l5, l6 and 17, which are inposition to be engagedby 'l'.l1(3.i61'll1l11l1l pins of a vacuum tube.lVe may assume that contact 14 conneets with the positive side of thefilament, contact .15 with the negative side of the filament, contact 16with the grid, and contact 1? with the plate; As seen in Fig. 3, theconnecting clips 22 extend toward the openings -it in the socket base B,thus making it easy to insert the conductors into the shallow recess ofthe base for connection with the clips.

As previously stated, the springs prongs l2 normally assume an upwardposition, as indicated in Fig. 5. Vhen the vacuum tube is inserted inthe socket, the terminal pins a thereof bear down on the socket contactsand depress them into the position. shown in Figs. at and 6." This meansthat a good electrieal contact is established between the socketcontacts and the lamp; When the lamp is removed, the resilient prongs 12snag baclcinto normal positionQ due to the iaci' lon of the torsionalspring base of each prong. Even when a lamp with longer terminal pinsisused, the socket-contacts return to noirin'al positioirwhen releasedbecause 'theprongs 12. will stand considera e depression o1" bending.

it is clear from the foregoing that I have providcdan exceedinglysimpleand efficient mounting of the socketcontacts to insure positiveengagement at all times with the terminal pin of the inserted vacunrtf-tube. Although I have shown the spring lhmade of a single piece oftempered steel, it is plain that in the broader aspect of my inyentionthe spring support; for the socket mutants can be nude in sections, sothat ea -h contactwill have a spring section of its own Vt hile such aconstruction would be entirely practieal, it would not be as neat andsimple as the one-piece spring, shown in the drawin 5.

Aside from the new spring support or the contacts, it will be seen thatthe base and shell of my new socket embody structural features ofnoielty which go to produce a socket of utmost simplicity andcompactness. By making the shell and base of metal, the socket becomespractically unbreakable.

I claim as my invention:

1. A vacuum-tube socket comprising a base, a. tubular shell on saidbase.'a unitary resilient support at the bottom of said shell. andinsulated contacts on said support.

'2. A vacuunrtubesocket comprising a boss, a. tubular shell on saidbase. tour torsional spring blades of practically identical Structuremounted in substantially radial position at the bottom of said shell.and insulated contacts carried by said spring blades.

3. A vacuum-tube socket comprising a base, a. tubular shell on saidbase. a circular spring supported at, the bottom of said shellsubstantially at diametrically opposi points, inwardly extending prongson said spring at points intermediate between the supporting points ofthe spring. and insulated contacts carried by said prongs.

4-. A vacuumabube socltet comprising a base, a tubular shell on saidbase. a one-piece torsional spring at the bottom of said shell. saidspring consisting of a band of resilient metal supported substantiallyat (liamctrb cally opposite points. integral prongs extending inwardlyfrom said band at points intermediate between the supporting points ofsaid blind, and insulated contacts carried by said prongs.

5. In. a vacuum-tube socket, an annular spring having substantiallyradial prongs for resiliently supporting a plurality of insulatedcontacts.

6. In a vacuum-tube socket. an annular spring having substantiallyradial integral prongs for resiliently supporting a plurality ofinsulated contacts.

7. In a vacuum tube socket. an arc-shapcd metal spring provided with anintegral rcsilient prong extending inwardly from the inner edge thereof.and a contact on said prong.

8. In a acuum tube socket. a oucpiece torsional spring consisting of allat arcuatc band of spring metal provided with a substantially radialprong. and a contact. on said prong.

9. In a vacuum-tube socket. a one-piece torsional spring consisting of acircular band provided with prongs. and insulated contacts on saidprongs.

10. A vacuunrtube socket com rising a base having an opening. lugsarranged to project into said openin a tubular shell having lugs at itslower edge in alignment with the lugs on sald base. fastening devicespassing through the aligned lugs for securing the shell on the base. acircular spring clamped between said aligned lugs and held in place bysaid fastening dcviccs. prongs on said spring inte mediate bctwccnsaidvsulated contacts mounted on said spring means so as to beresiliently supporlcd thereby.

1:2. A vacuum-tube socket comprising a one-piecc sheet-metal base formcdwith a peripheral flange to provide a shallow rccess at the bottom ofthe base. said llangc having openings at: certain points for the inscrtion of electrical conductors. a onc-piccc sheet-metal shell securedon said base. a rcsilient support at the bottom of said shell. insulatedcontacts arricd by said resilient support. and clips connected to saidcontacts and extending into said recess. said clips being adapted to beconnected to clcctrical conductors.

13. A vacuum-tube socket comprising a one-piece shcctanctal basel'ormcdwith a peripheral flange to provide a shallow rcccss at the bottom ofthe base. said llangc having openings at certain points for theinscrl'ion of electrical conductors. a one-piece sheet-metal shellsecured on said base. a resilient supportat the bottom of said shell.insulated contacts carried bv said resilient support. and means in saidrecess 'l'or connecting electrical conductors to said coir tacls.

14-. A vacuum-tube SOt'liti comprising a one-piecc sheet-metal basehaving an opening. lugs formed on said base to project into saidopening. a one-piece shcctanctal shell having lugs at its lower edge inalignment with the logs on the base. l'asicningllcvu-cs passing throughsaid aligned lug a resilicut support at the bottom of said shell. andinsulated contacts carried bysaid rcsilicnt support.

15. A vacuum-tube socket comprising a one-piece sheet-metal base havingan opening. lugs formed to project into said opcuing. a one-piecesheet-metal shell having lugs at its lower edge in alignment with thelugs on the base. fastening devices passing through said aligned lugs. aone-piece torsional spring secured to said lugs. and insulated contactscarried by said spring.

16. As a new article of manufacture for resiliently supporting thecontacts of a vacuum-tube socket, a onepiece metal li kl llU springconsisting of a substantially circularbody provided with inwardlyextending prongs.

17. As a new article of manufacture for resiliently supporting thecontacts of a vacuum-tube socket, a one-piece metal spring consisting ofa substantially circular body provided with tour inwardly extendingprongs. arranged substantially at dia1netrically opposite points.

18.111 a vacuum-tube socket, a circular band of spring metal fastened ata plurality of points, prongs extending inwardly from said spring bandat points intermediate said fastening points, whereby each prong inresiliently supported by a section of said spring band, and a contactoneach prong.

tween the points of attachment constitute torsional spring supports forsaid prongs and a contact on each prong.

As a new article of manufacture for resiliently supporting the contactsof a, vacuum-tube socket, a one-piece sheet metal spring consisting of asubstantially circa lar band provided with prongs extending inwardlyfrom the inner edge of said band.

STANLEY D. LIVINGSTON.

